Brownsville Texas History Trail

Entries on This Tour

The Neale House is said to be the oldest frame house surviving in Brownsville, dating to sometime in the 1860s or earlier. It originally stood at 625 East 14th St. but was moved to this location on Neale Road in 1950 by the Brownsville Art League. This location was once part of Fort Brown. The builder of the home was an Englishman named William A. Neale (1807-1897). Neale was a local businessman, Civil War veteran, and served two terms as mayor of Brownsville, from 1858-1859 and 1866-1867. Neale bought the two lots where the house was to be built in the original town of Brownsville in 1850 from Samuel Belden. The house stayed in the Neale family until 1950 when a direct descendant, Mrs. Mamie del Valle, gave the house to the Brownsville Art League.

2. Stillman House and Brownsville Heritage Museum

The Stillman House Museum has been open since the 1960s as a historic house museum after restoration. The Heritage Museum next door opened in 2002 and offers photo displays, exhibits, and interactive displays; it also houses La Tienda Gift Shop and the administrative offices of the Brownsville Historical Association (BHA). The Greek Revival style Stillman House was built circa 1850 and is one of the oldest residences in Brownsville. It was built as the home of Charles Stillman, a wealthy businessman who was one of two owners of the original townsite of nearly 5,000 acres in 1848, along with Samuel A. Belden. The house was owned by the Trevino family from 1858 to 1958 and was home of the Mayor of Brownsville, Thomas Carson, in the 1890s.

3. Market Square Event Hall/ Research Center

The core of the Market building in the center of Market Square was built 1850 - 1852, with multiple arcaded stalls on the ground floor selling fresh fruits and vegetables and City of Brownsville offices on the second floor. A two-story fire department building was built in 1908 - 1909 free-standing on the E. 11th Street (northwest) side of Market Square. The 1850s building was gutted in 1912, the second floor office space above the market stalls was reconstructed, and a two-story extension was built on the front of the building, facing E. 12th Street (southeast side). The first floor stalls were walled off from the outdoors in 1940. In 1948 - 1949 the fire department building was incorporated into the newly-stuccoed Market building. The city bus station occupied the building by the 1980s. Market Square was leased to the Brownsville Historical Association (BHA) in 2009. The BHA Research Center within the building contains a wide range of photographs and documents on local history.

4. Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Built in 1859, Immaculate Conception Cathedral is a historic Catholic church located in the heart of Brownsville. It is notable for its elegant Gothic architecture and for the man who designed it, Father Pierre Y. Keralum, who was a trained architect. The church is also a symbol for the development of the Catholicism in Texas. It was built just ten years after Brownsville was established, and was the location of the first permanent settlement in the country of a Catholic order called the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). The church remains an active Catholic parish and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

5. Old Cameron County Courthouse

The Old Cameron County Courthouse was designed by a prominent San Antonio architect, Atlee B. Ayres, in 1912. Ayres became the State Architect of Texas in 1915. The Classical Revival style building takes up twelve lots within the original boundaries of the town of Brownsville. The massive brown brick and terra cotta building on a concrete foundation cost a quarter of a million dollars. A new courthouse was built in 1981 and this building became county offices. The building was renamed the Dancy Building after Oscar C. Dancy (1879-1971), a county judge who served within this building from 1921 to 1971 and advocated for the structure to be built. The building was listed in the National Register in 1980 and was recognized as a Texas Historic Landmark in 2000.

6. Old Cameron County Jail

The Old Cameron County Jail, built in 1912-1913 at 1201 East Van Buren Street in Brownsville, Texas, is the second facility constructed specifically to house prisoners for this county which was established in 1848. It succeeds the building constructed in 1882 that was used until this building was completed. A new Cameron County Jail was built in 1978. The jail was built in four stages – 1912-1913, 1923, 1926, and 1930 – spanning a period during which Cameron County’s population almost tripled from twenty-seven thousand to just under seventy-eight thousand. The original 1912 building was designed by Atlee B. Ayres, and the 1930 expansion by Ayres and his son Robert M. Ayres - it is one of five jail buildings attributed to Ayres and Ayres. The Cameron County Jail is significant as it pertains to the areas of politics and government as the building that housed county prisoners for sixty-five years during a period of tremendous community growth.

7. La Madrileña

La Madrileña is one of the more architecturally unique buildings in Brownsville. It was built in 1892 by Spanish native Adrian Ortiz (1860-1957), who became a prosperous merchant and prominent figure in the city. Ortiz, who was born in Madrid, Spain, named the building La Madrileña, which means "native of Madrid." The building is an excellent example of vernacular commercial architecture, featuring a number of interesting elements including elaborate corbeled brickwork, curved parapets, pinnacles, and several pairs of wooden doors set in bays on the street-facing sides of the structure. The building today appears to house a law firm.

8. Samuel W. Brooks House

This attractive home was once the residence of Brownsville's foremost architect during the late 1800s, Samuel Wallace Brooks (1829-1903). The house, which Brooks designed and built in 1888, is likely the last I-plan wood-frame homes still standing in the city. It features a number of interesting elements including a veranda on the first floor with decorative designs and a small balcony on the second floor above the veranda. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the home is now the location of a law office.

9. Alonso Building

The Alonso Building on the corner of E. St. Charles and E. Sixth Street is owned by the Brownsville Historical Association. The building is now known as The Historic Alonso and is available for event rentals. The Spanish-born Manuel Alonso built the one-story residence on this site in 1877 around the time of his marriage to a Mexican-born woman, and added the adjacent brick, two-story mercantile building in 1890. Alonso was a wholesale grocer and several of his children also worked in his mercantile store, "Los Dos Canones" (the two cannons). The cast iron porch railings on the mercantile building were ordered from New Orleans by Alonso and reflect Spanish and French architectural influences. Manuel Alonso died in 1922 and his family owned the property until 1944.

10. Brown-Wagner House

The 1895 Brown-Wagner House is a well-preserved example of a large brick house built in Brownsville dating to the late 1800s. It is named after its builder and first owner, Mary Josephine Glaevecke Browne, and Martha Wagner, who bought it in 1920. The house is notable for its molded brickwork, which is unique in the area. The architect, S.W. Brooks, designed the house in such a way that it resembles the Victorian Italianate style. It remains a private home today.

11. Celaya-Creager House

Constructed in 1912, Brownsville's Celaya-Creager House is historically significant for its striking architecture and association with Jose and Serafina Celaya, the first owners of the home, and Rentfro B. Creager and his wife Alice who lived in the home from the 1920s to the late 1950s. The Celayas came from two of the city's prosperous families. Jose was a successful businessman and held a number of political positions as well. Rentfro was even more of a prominent figure as an attorney, banker, president of an oil company, and a leading figure in the local and national Republican politics. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is now the location of a home health care provider.

12. Old City Cemetery

The Old City Cemetery was established in 1853 and is bounded by E. Madison Street, E. Fifth Street, E. Second Street and a waterway, Town Resaca. The entrance gate is on E. Fifth Street just northeast of the intersection with E. Madison Street. Also known as the Brownsville City Cemetery and Hebrew Cemetery, the nearly five-acre burial ground in the Buena Vida neighborhood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010. The cemetery is significant in the areas of landscape architecture, art, and community planning and development. The Hebrew Cemetery is situated in the northwest corner of the cemetery and was established in 1868. An internal road paved in brick heads straight through the cemetery from the main gate and takes a left turn at the edge of the Hebrew Cemetery before exiting onto E. Madison Street.

13. Brownsville Museum and Historic Southern Pacific Railroad Passenger Depot

The Historic Brownsville Museum, since 1986, is located within the former Southern Pacific Railroad Depot built in 1928. The building is a magnificent example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and is recognized as a Texas Historic Marker and National Register of Historic Places.

14. Laureles Ranch House Museum

The Laureles Ranch House was once the home of Brownsville founder Charles Stillman. The house is a late Georgian Greek revival style frame house that was built for Charles around 1850 on his ranch north of Brownsville and south of Corpus Christi. Charles purchased land on the old Spanish land grant in 1848 from the Perez-Ray family. Charles sold his interest in the ranch to his brother, Cornelius in 1864 and moved to New York with his family. After four years of operating the ranch, Cornelius sold it to Miflin Kenedy. The restored home is now located in Linear Park and is open as a museum by the Brownsville Historical Association. The Laureles Ranch House is available for rental as a rustic venue for special events.

15. Brownsville Museum of Fine Art

Established in 1935, the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art showcases modern and contemporary works of art created by local artists and artists from around the world. The museum features permanent a collection and presents changing exhibitions throughout the year. In addition to its exhibitions, the museum offers a variety of adult and youth art programs, and it also houses a library containing 500 art books that are available to members.

16. Costumes of the Americas Museum

Located inside the Mitte Cultural Education Center in Dean Porter Park, the Costumes of the Americas Museum houses the world's largest collection of traditional, indigenous clothing—as well as accessories such as jewelry and headpieces—from the Americas and the Caribbean. The center and the museum opened in 2005.

This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.

Brownsville Texas History Trail

Created by Clio Admin on September 15th 2020, 12:52:04 am.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

This trail begins near the border with stops at the Neale House, Fort Brown, and the Brownsville Heritage Museum. The tour moves through the downtown area with Market Square, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, several government buildings, and multiple historic homes and buildings before concluding at the city's museum district. There are numerous other Clio entries throughout the city that are a short drive from this tour.

Entries on This Tour

Brownsville Texas History Trail

Description

Share